RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 27 FLOWERS OF HONG KONG Synopsis of a lecture delivered on November 2, 1960, based on Mr. F. A. Nixon's collection of colour transparencies. B. T. CHIU, B.Sc. The flora of Hong Kong is of a mixed nature; partly tropical, partly subtropical, and partly temperate; and is famous for its exotic flowering trees and shrubs. The majority of us know little about it, because literature on the flora is scarce and hardly accessible to the layman. Bentham's "Flora hongkongensis" (1861), Dunn and Tutcher's "Flora of Kwangtung and Hong Kong" (1912), and most of Herklots' work of the thirties and 'forties are out of print. We are privileged in being given this opportunity in viewing examples of Hong Kong flowers at their best selected from each month of the year: some familiar, others rare; some native, others introduced; and a few very special ones, indigenous to Hong Kong. Special tribute is due to Mr. Nixon for his magnificent achievement as a photographer, and for his pursuit of the flora through the years into every corner, however perilous, of the countryside. The following transparencies were projected: TREES Delonix regia (Flame of the Forest) Bauhinia blakeana (orchid-like Bauhinia) B. variegata (deciduous Bauhinia) Cassia fistula (Golden shower) C. nodosa (Pink and white shower) Erythrina indica (Coral Tree) Crataeva religiosa (Spider Tree) Aleurites montana (Wood or Tung Oil Tree) Camellia japonica (Camellia) C. hongkongensis (Crimson Hong Kong Camellia) C. granthamiana (White Hongkong Camellia) Jacaranda ovalifolia (Jacaranda) Spathodea campanulata (African Tulip Tree) Paulownia tomentosa (Paulownia) Rhodoleia championi (King of Hanging Bells) SHRUBS Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Rose of China) H. schizopetalus (Fringed hibiscus) H. mutabilis (Cotton rose) Rhododendron simsii (Red Rhododendron) R. pulcherrimum (Purple Rhododendron) Page 30 Page 31 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v # FLOWERS OF HONG KONG ## BAUHINIA BLAKEANA, DUNN. Family: Caesalpiniaceae (or a subfamily in Leguminosae) 洋金鳳科 Common names: Red flowered Camel's Foot Hong Kong Bauhinia Hong Kong Orchid Tree 49 This Hong Kong Bauhinia was first discovered by the fathers of the Missions Etrangères at Pokfulum near "the ruins of a house on the seashore" and was first described in 1908 by Mr. T. S. Dunn, Superintendent of Gardens and Forestry Department, who named it blakeana in honour of Sir Henry Blake, Governor of Hong Kong until 1903, for his keen botanical interest during his governorship. This has been regarded as the most beautiful and spectacular of all Bauhinias. The flowers are fragrant, large, 5-6 inches in diameter, and orchid-like with rhodamine purple petals overlaid with deep crimson streaks or patches. The inflorescences of dense racemes terminate the branches and take months to unfold and hence the blooming season lasts from October to April. Each flower remains blooming for several days and is shed completely, never maturing into fruit nor seed. Its origin is still unknown and no similar plant has been found elsewhere in the world. The medium-size tree is an evergreen, with long spreading and graceful branches bearing handsome, large bilobed leaves, characteristic of the genus, and named after two brothers, surnamed Bauhin, who were herbalists. This was to describe their inseparable relationship. The outline of the leaf blade is comparable to that of the foot of a camel and hence one of its common names. The leaves are of a dark bluish green, with a soft felty appearance and the leaf blade traversed by 13 palmate main veins. The branches are tender and break easily and are always more severely devastated after typhoons than any other trees. Their sprouting power, however, is excellent, reviving quickly with numerous new shoots, within a short time. The attractiveness and worth of Bauhinia blakeana is becoming increasingly known. It is cultivated in the Colony as well as in other subtropical parts of the world: Amoy and Canton in China, and Los Angeles and Florida in U.S.A. where there is a hot, humid summer and a cool, dry winter. Since no seed is produced, propagation is by grafting and air layering. Page 60 Page 61 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r 148 NOTES AND QUERIES haute, le pic de Victoria, 1,8251, elle offre l'aspect de pierres superposées, aboutissant à la mer par des pentes douces, et à pic, en quelques endroits de la côte orientale. A l'exception de trois ou quatre petites vallées, il y a peu de terrain cultivable. On y trouve beaucoup de ruisseaux d'une eau très-pure; l'un d'eux, dans la partie sud-est, le Hiang-kiang (rivière des parfums), où les Européens allaient puiser leur eau, a donné à toute l'île son nom de Hiang-kiang, qu'on lit sur les timbres de la poste. Avant 1840, l'île de Hong-kong était à peu près inhabitée. Des cabanes éparses le long du rivage servaient d'abri aux pêcheurs et aux corsaires. La belle rade ne tarda pas à être remarquée des navigateurs anglais, qui, ayant vainement demandé au Portugal la franchise du port de Macao, étaient à la recherche, pour leur commerce, d'un port dans le voisinage des côtes de Chine. La rade de Hong-kong se présentait dans de bonnes conditions. Pourvue de deux entrées, l'une du côté ouest à l'embouchure du Tchong-kiang, et l'autre du côté est, vaste et bien disposée, elle pouvait abriter plusieurs flottes et former un port excellent. De plus, n'étant qu'à 80 milles de Canton et à 40 de Macao, elle deviendrait peut-être la clef de tout le commerce de l'Europe avec la Chine, et porterait le dernier coup à la puissance du Portugal dans ces parages; ce qui arriva en effet2. Pendant la première guerre de l'Angleterre avec la Chine, le ministre plénipotentiaire Elliot se fit céder cette île par le commissaire Chi-xeu. Le traité de cession fut ratifié à la fin de 1840 et au mois de janvier 1841; mais, avant la fin de la guerre, et, avant que ces conventions privées devinssent le traité de Nankin, conclu définitivement au mois d'août 1842, les Anglais non seulement avaient pris possession de l'île, mais y exerçaient déjà un pouvoir absolu. Le gouvernement britannique y avait commencé des travaux gigantesques, et traçait à travers les montagnes, une route très-large, de plusieurs lieues de longueur. A l'est, on bâtissait un fort sur un îlot et deux bastions en face de deux grandes casernes pour la défense des navires et du port. Les négociants de toutes les nations, encou- 1 Les autres montagnes sont; Le Pic Paker Highwest (sic) Kellet Gough 1710 pieds. 1175 1130 1575 2 Macao ne renferme plus aujourd'hui que 5,000 Européens et 30,000 Chinois. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 O.S. S.S. 75 pok 壆碧 brok 76 pui 貝杯 buuis HONG KONG PLACE NAMES Meaning or Remarks A stone dyke, 151 Interchangeable with each 背盃 bhuuy other and with (62) and 23 77 pun See ying-pun (126) 78 sai 西 shay (63). See pak (63). Occurs where 'west' makes nonsense. 79 shan 山 shaann' 80 she 蛇 sreaht 81 shek 石 sreak A large island. See (52). 82 shi 氏市屎 shi srir, sir 83 sok-# sok 84 kwu tai K sokgwuur! draais 85 tai✯✯ taais 86 tam 擔担 daam tam t trarm Sometimes interchangeable with (82) in places where neither 'rock' nor ‘dung' are likely, but the tone militates against 'market'. They may be parallel forms: both A and had final -g in the time of Confucius, and may be a later corruption. See (81). A hand-net (Is this the same as in Mencius III, iii, 3?). Occurs in conjunction with (100) (3) and therefore cannot mean 'big'. See also (85). Occurs as alternative to (84), the Hakka137 pronunciations being identical, and also to (88). See pages 156-157. A measure of land, about 14 acres. See (92). A buffalo wallow. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 330 Shayuchung: just as it took the Northern pundits half a century to recognize that the Cantonese (ex-Yao) word "I" was to be rendered "zhun" and not "ch'uan", so they will not yet be told that in Cantonese usage "東" and "北" are not, as they are in North China, the same word, but different words of which the latter is pronounced like "dung4)". Likewise, to write Blacksmiths' Street (p. 80) "Ta T'ich Chich" is, pardon me, sheer barbarism, and a mixture of two systems like "Po Kat in ... Paoan" (p. 40, for either "Po Kat in Po On" or, if we must have this wretched Northern jargon, "Buji in Baoan") is ridiculous. And if there be any who will take up the challenge for Sha Tau Kok, & c., they cannot do better than emulate Dr. Hayes's Chapter 2 (Peng Chau) and Chapter 4 (Tai Tam Tuk — even though he does mistranslate the second word of the name). Both chapters are models of how this kind of study should be written up. And the same applies to nearly every part of the book. I wish I had written it! The quotation with which I opened is, by the way, in one local variety of Naam T'au dialect, and means One shagoo (small humped cattle) is worth 20 piculs of unhusked rice; One water buffalo is worth a house, Such mnemonic jingles used to be common in the rural areas. Can anybody be found to collect them, while they are still remembered? I read recently that the Hakka "shan-ko" had been rediscovered in N.E. Kwangtung. Is anybody collecting them? And how about itinerant story-tellers? All right, all right, I was only asking. There is so much to be done. K.M.A. BARNETT i ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 73 assistant, Mr. S.T. Dunn, who was in turn succeeded by his assistant, Mr. W.T. Tutcher in 1910. Both Dunn and Tutcher carried out extensive botanical work and were co-authors of "The Flora of Kwangtung and Hong Kong". Tutcher wrote "Gardening for Hong Kong" which served as a useful manual for horticulturists unfamiliar with the peculiar seasonal conditions of Hong Kong. They also organized repair and maintenance work to the buildings of the Botanic Gardens and Tutcher introduced electric lighting into the Gardens in 1913 for evening functions. Mr. H. Green succeeded Mr. Tutcher in 1919. He arranged the layout of some of the flower-beds and relaid the old paths and channels with cement granite. A granite memorial in the shape of a 'Pai Lau' was erected in 1928 at the top of the main entrance steps on the old Garden in memory of the Chinese in the service of the British Government who died during the Great War 1914-1918. Then in 1931 the lower portion of the Gardens was taken over by the Public Works Department for the construction of a service reservoir. Work was completed in 1933 and the area was recovered with black soil, turfed and reopened to the public. Mr. Green retired in 1937 and the vacant post was taken up by Mr. F. Flippance after a series of quick changes of appointments. By this time the activities of the Department had expanded so much that forestry in fact accounted for 65 to 70% of its work, the rest being botanical, gardening, and agricultural. In fact, afforestation work on the hills was carried out by the Gardens Department as early as 1876 but it was not until 1880 that planting on any large scale was undertaken and the Department had since been renamed the Botanic and Afforestation Department. The Botanic Gardens remained in good condition until the Second World War broke out. During the Second World War the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong resulted in extensive structural damage to the Botanic Gardens the site of which was badly cut up to provide earthworks for gun emplacements and defensive trenches. Much of the shrubbery was destroyed as were a number of the larger trees; additionally the surrounding railings and gates were removed to provide ease of access to military personnel and equipment. There are no Page 90 Page 91 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 113 at MIT, he travelled around the country to observe and learn more before returning to the University of Washington, where, after another year of study, he received a M.S. degree in 1925, specializing in Aquaculture. He returned to China, becoming Director of the Kwangtung Fisheries Experiment Station in 1929, and later Director of the Chekiang Fisheries Experiment Station. In 1946, he became President of the Taiwan Fisheries Corporation. His comprehensive knowledge and experience in the field of aquaculture made him a leading and respected authority of national and international renown, In Canton on March 1928, Toby married Louise Dung Yuk Bow, a vivacious beauty from Grass Valley, California. Stricken with Parkinson's Disease and gradually weakened by it, she died on 27 January 1971. While I was teaching in Canton, Toby and Louise welcomed me as an immediate member of their family and I spent many weekends in their home - I am grateful for this hospitality to this day. They had six children, five daughters and one son: Melody Wil married Johnson C. J. Chen Carol Kit married John Lee Sonia Cíl married Tai Min Wan Jade Ef married Eddy Lin Lloyd married Deborah Lena ft married Jeffrey Lo The girls leaned towards the arts like their mother, and Lloyd, an ichthyologist, towards science like his father. Cousin Helen Moo Ching married a nephew of Tong Siu Yee (T'ang Shao-i) Hill, a Chinese diplomat during the late Ch'ing and one time Prime Minister of the Republic of China. Her married life was spent in Peking where her husband was head of the Postal Savings Bureau. After his death she moved south and finally retreated to Taiwan where she died in 1974 of cancer. Charles Ting Hing began his career in banking but switched to dentistry. He was married twice, both times to non-Chinese girls, and had children by both of them. He died in Shanghai in 1978. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 152 Country Parks, currently plant around 300,000 trees a year for amenity, erosion control and the repair of fire damage. Usually only introduced trees such as Acacia will grow under the harsh conditions of bare and eroded slopes, but under more favourable conditions native tree species are also being planted for the benefit of wildlife. DAF organizes forestry camps where each summer around 2000 young people learn to care for trees. Each spring in the Country Parks DAF also organises community tree planting days in which 20,000 trees are planted by the public each year. REFERENCES Chan, Ka-yan (1989). Joss Stick Manufacturing A Study of a Traditional Industry in Hong Kong Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 29 94-120 Chang, YN (1963) Hong Kong Ts'un (Hong Kong Village) and the Cultivation and Exportation of Incense from Kowloon and the New Territory in Lo, H. L. (ed) Hong Kong and its External Communications Before 1842 Hong Kong Institute of Chinese Culture P114 Coates, A Myself a Mandarin (1968) Oxford University Press Daley, PA (1975). Man's Influence on the Vegetation of Hong Kong In Thrower, B (ed) The Vegetation of Hong Kong Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 44-56 Dunn, S T (1907). Report on the Botanical and Forestry Department for 1907 Hong Kong Govt Hase, P, Hayes, J W and Iu, K. C. Traditional Tea Growing in the New Territories (1984). Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 24 264-281 Hayes, J. (1977), Notes for the Royal Asiatic Society Visit to Tai Mo Shan, 3rd April 1976. Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 17 157-178 Hayes, J (1983) The Rural Communities of Hong Kong, Studies and Themes Oxford University Press Hong Kong Daily Press 1873 February 5 Iu, Kwok-choy (1983) The Cultivation of the "Incense Tree" (Aquilaria sinensis), Hong Kong Quarterly Journal of Forestry July Nichols, D (1978) Some Aspects of Vegetation in Hong Kong with Special Reference to Fung Shui Woods University of Leicester Dept of Geography Quoted in Thrower, S ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 18 people believe, and there appears to be truth in this (with greater use being made of the Chinese language since the Handover), that Hong Kong as a city-state is becoming more Chinese. Although this can affect the development of Hong Kong humour it is expected to be more than offset by globalisation and the world-wide effects of radio, television, the Internet and information technology. The late Lin Yutang postulated that a Chinese believes, while getting in a few puffs while standing in front of a no-smoking sign, that the world is a stage where drama and high comedy abound. Life is a huge farce and one must not take matters too seriously, whether they be government reforms or funerals (Lin, 1936:65). The latter have a certain amount of 'gaiety' about them. Sending a person on his or her last journey to confront the final mystery of life should, it is believed, be expensive. The Chinese consider only Europeans (Lin insists) take funerals seriously and try to make them solemn affairs. What is wrong at a funeral in getting a few words across to a pal, about horse racing or morning walks, when you have not seen him for a long time? The man who takes life too seriously and obeys all the rules (according to Lin), and keeps off the grass when nobody is looking, appears ridiculous. In addition Chinese humour often takes a tolerant view of vice and evil. Instead of condemning them outright why not make fun of them? Lin Yutang believed humour could transcend cynicism and be used for other and better purposes than reconciling oneself to one's down-trodden position. According to Lin Yutang (1936:64), first-class humour is to be found in the Confucian Analects. "After all, Confucius is quoted as having said, because Tsai Yu napped during the day: Rotten wood cannot be carved nor a wall of dried dung trowelled. How would I rebuke him? A saying like that is always good for a chuckle. Much humour is to be found in Ming dynasty novels, in Hong Kong's New Territories' folk songs (largely forgotten except among the elderly), and in the poetry of the drunkard, Li Po (alias Li T'ai-po), who lived in the eighth century. He made much of the solace and lib- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 93 Waters, D. D: The Chinese labour Corps in the First World War : Labourers buried in France : Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society: Vol. 35 : 1995 The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 7DX United Kingdom Tel: 44-1628 634221 Fax: 44-1628 771208 Imperial War Museum NOTES 1 3 Lambeth Road, London, SE1 6HZ Tel. 020 7416 5000 Liang Shiyi (1869-1933). Chinese government official and financier. Under the Qing government, amongst his financial dealings, he helped found the Bank of Communications (1907). He was President of the Board of Communications (1912), Chief Secretary in the Presidential Office and General Manager of the Bank of Communications, acting Finance Minister (1913-1915); Director-General of the National Revenue Administration and Director-General of the Domestic Loans Office. He was linked with Yuan Shikai and in 1916 fled to Hong Kong. He formed the Wei Min Corporation for the recruitment of Chinese labourers to serve in France, as a proponent of China's entry into the war. Returning to Beijing in 1918, he was made Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Communications; Speaker of the National Assembly; Director of the Domestic Loan Bureau (1920); and Prime Minister (1921-1922). After exile (1922-1925) he again served in the Beijing Government under both Duan Jirui and Zhang Zuolin. He retired to Hong Kong in 1928 after the Northern Expedition reached Beijing. This was usually referred to by “real” soldiers as the Crosse and Blackwells, as this British provision company had a very similar crest. Lt Col. Bryan Charles Fairfax, a Yorkshireman, was born on 12th September 1873, the second son of Col. T.F. (or L?) Fairfax of the Grenadier Guards and passed through the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, being commissioned on 8th March 1893 into the Durham Light Infantry (DLI). He was posted to the 2nd Battalion, then serving in India. In 1898 he volunteered for service with the newly raised 1 Battalion, The Chinese Regiment of Infantry, stationed in Weihai ================================================================================